THE HISTORY OF CARRIER (PART 2)
If you follow along with my blog, you may have seen in my previous post that in telling the story of the original owner of the home that is now the Maple Shade Mansion, I talked quite a bit about lumber and a plethora of sawmills. In that previous post, I alluded to yet another sawmill that plays a part in the history of Brockwayville, with this one being owned by Cassius M. Carrier. If you recall, I left you in suspense by noting that the history of Carrier is a story for another time. Well. Now is that time!
The history of Carrier began with a lumberman by the name of Peter Galusha. Galusha came to the area from Maine in search of the mighty white pine. Finding an abundance of such timber in Brockwayville, Galusha erected a sawmill on Little Toby Creek (3 miles from the Mansion, on Rails to Trails) in 1850. The town was appropriately named, Galusha’s Mills (keep in mind the town would change its name 2 more times).
The Mill ran under Galusha’s guidance for twenty eight years until Civil War veteran, Nick M. Brockway purchased the mill in 1878 and changed the name of the town to Oyster. One can understand Mr. Galusha naming the town after himself, but why did Mr. Brockway re-name the town - Oyster? No one knows the answer. Living in these parts I could understand the name Trout, Deer, Squirrel or Eagle, but Oyster? I digress….
In 1890 Cassius M. Carrier purchased the mill and made considerable improvements to its operations. In keeping with tradition, Cassius renamed the town (once again) from Oyster to Carrier. The little community was booming with over seventy-five men employed at the mill, a one-room schoolhouse, a post office and over two hundred people living in the town. It was serviced by two railroads which allowed Carrier to ship lumber anywhere in the country. The two railroads, each running parallel with the Little Toby creek were connected by a wide brick-floored iron-trussed bridge. The bridge quickly became the main thoroughfare between the towns of Brockwayville (Jefferson County) and Ridgway (Elk County and the county seat). The steel bridge at Carrier lasted until World War II when the wrought iron was scrapped for war-time material. The stone pillars (shown in the photo) remain to this day and can be easily seen from Rails to Trails. 
Reynolds L. Buzard purchased Carrier’s Mill in 1899 (unlike his predecessors, Mr. Buzard did not change the name of the town – it remained, Carrier (thankfully- because all these name changes makes it quite confusing…). Over the next few years the town and sawmill would be badly damaged by a flood and fire, Mr. Buzard would pass away in Hollywood, California and the once-thriving community would become a ghost town.
Signs and photos along the Rails to Trails path from Brockway to Ridgway invite bikers, hikers and skiers to view the rich history of our vibrant lumber heritage.
